Twitter sues Turkey over service ban

Twitter has filed lawsuits in several Turkish courts to challenge an access ban on its service recently pushed through by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. The move comes on the same day an Ankara administrative court moved to suspend the ban.

“It’s now been six days since the Turkish government blocked
access to Twitter. Throughout this time, we’ve been engaged in a
discussion with Turkish authorities to hear their concerns,
inform them about how our platform and policies work, and try and
bring this situation to a resolution,” Hurriyet Daily cited
Twitter’s general counsel, Vijaya Gadde, as saying on the social
media platform’s official blog.

“But still, the millions of people in Turkey who turn to
Twitter to make their voices heard are being kept from doing just
that.”

Twitter said that Wednesday they filed petitions for lawsuits in
various Turkish courts “to challenge the access ban on
Twitter, joining Turkish journalists and legal experts, Turkish
citizens and the international community in formally asking for
the ban to be lifted.”

The micro-blogging service also suspended content related to two
of three court orders given as the legal basis for the ban
because they violated its own rules. But it was challenging a
third order to remove an account, which accused a former minister
of corruption.

During a live TV broadcast Wednesday, Erdogan said that Twitter
had failed to reach a compromise with authorities by agreeing to
remove "one or two" pieces of content from the micro-blogging
service. According to the PM, there are "approximately 700
pieces of content" that his government has demanded be
scrubbed from the service.

Meanwhile, an administrative court in the capital, Ankara, issued
a stay of execution on last week's decision by the country's
telecommunication authority (TIB).

Once the TIB is informed by the court, the ban is expected to be
lifted. The authority has 30 days to implement or appeal a court
ruling halting a block on access to Twitter, a source in the PM’s
office told Reuters on Wednesday.

Six days earlier, Turkish authorities blocked Twitter, just hours
after Erdogan threatened to close it down. Authorities claimed
the popular social networking site had failed to remove
allegations of corruption involving senior officials as the
country prepares for local elections Sunday.

While users have found different of circumventing the
prohibition, including virtual private networks (VPNs) and other
proxy networks, the ban has had a concrete effect.

Erdogan has long had an adversarial relationship with the
blogging platform – to the extent that in one of his speeches the
PM even vowed to "wipe out” Twitter and dubbed it “a
scourge.”

Earlier this month, Erdogan also warned that Facebook and YouTube
might be banned following Sunday's election.

"If Twitter, YouTube or Facebook act honestly, we can give
any kind of support. But if they continue efforts to break up
families, they have to face the Turkish Republic's
government," Erdogan told a throng of supporters at a rally
in Istanbul on Sunday.

Twitter and other social networking sites have been major
platforms to transmit alleged tapped telephone conversations
which appear to substantiate corruption allegations against
Erdogan's inner circle. The revelations have forced the
resignation of three ministers and a cabinet reshuffle. Erdogan
claims the probe is an attempt by his political rivals to
discredit his government.

Despite the scandals, opinion polls suggest that Erdogan's AK
Party will win the March 30 municipal elections, which kick off a
critical 15-month voting cycle that will culminate in
presidential and parliamentary contests.